By
Phil on December 04th, 2007
I’ve been a fan of Bill McKibben’s since he published an article in The New Yorker about spending a weekend in a cabin in Virginia doing nothing but watching television. What could he learn about the world from such an experience? Gonzo Journalism for nerds. His most famous book I think is “The End of Nature.” But here’s a nice piece that suggests you don’t have to get rid of the idea of “Christmas” if you spend a little creativity and energy to change the holiday season from crass commercial crapfest to humbling homebound holiday. (Sorry, for some reason when I open the link the article comes out as a very narrow one-word column preceded by tons of advertising, but it’s worth struggling through.)
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About the Author
Phil has been writing and editing professionally--by which he means "for money," rather than any claim to quality--for more than 16 years, but he has written on his own in countless notebooks, letters and diaries since about the age of 12. Now 41, he finds himself approaching middle age with both great apprehensions, greater expectations and still a sliver of hope--a sliver nourished by his two lovely daughters, ages 8 and 4.
Phil has always felt that he had a book inside of him waiting to come out, and his hope is that participating in Dangerous Intersections will help to stimulate the germs of ideas that can turn into a book. Technically, he is already a published author, but he has yet to write the book he wants to write--a collection of non-fiction stories, tales and essays about growing up in St. Joseph, Mo., birthplace of the Pony Express and deathplace of Jesse James--written for his daughters and lovely wife of 16 years.
Meanwhile, there is Dangerous Intersection and Phil's full time job as a loyal PR "flack" for a local Fortune 500 company (he is comforted by the knowledge that poet and novelist James Dickey--author of "Deliverance," made famous by Ned Beatty and Burt Reynolds--spent years in Atlanta, Ga., writing ad copy for Coca-Cola as he also churned out poetry). Will this fabled book ever materialize? Will blogging lead to revelation or frustration? Is there a "there" there? Only time will tell.
McKibben is right-on about “stuff”:
Lots of good comments, too. I found a working version of the article at http://www.alternet.org/environment/69068/ . It actually started out as that long one-word column you mentioned, then I clicked a link, then I clicked “go back” and it was a normal looking article.
Cool–thanks for the tech tip! I may have another Henry Adams post later this evening.